Method and apparatus for prioritizing telephone calls

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for prioritizing telphone calls that enables a caller to specify priority criteria relating to the calls and a recipient to specify priority criteria relating to the treatment of the calls.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/385,004, filed Feb. 7,1995, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,625,680.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for prioritizingtelephone calls.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are existing methods of prioritizing telephone calls. For example,the name or telephone number of the caller party can be displayed on therecipient's telephone, a telephone can be provided with a function thatblocks all incoming telephone calls on demand or telephone calls can beforwarded to an automated message center.

There also are existing methods of rerouting telephone calls. Forexample, call forwarding or automated answering systems that allowcallers to reroute their telephone calls.

The existing methods of prioritizing and rerouting of telephone callshave several disadvantages. One distinct disadvantage with respect toprioritizing of telephone calls is that the caller does not have anycontrol over the prioritizing of his telephone calls. Similarly, withrespect to rerouting of telephone calls, the caller does not have anycontrol over whether his call will be rerouted.

Existing methods of prioritizing and rerouting of telephone calls alsohave disadvantages from the recipient's perspective. For example,because the recipient does not know the nature of the call beforeanswering, the recipient cannot prioritize or reroute calls based uponthe nature of the call.

The deficiencies in the existing methods of prioritizing and reroutingof telephone calls is made readily apparent in telemarketing.Telemarketing is the use of telecommunication services to market andsell products and services and to provide customers with product andservice information.

Often times, telemarketing agents expend time and effort callingpotential customers only to be greeted by anger and irritation. Manypeople consider calls to their home during nonworking hours by nameless,faceless telemarketing agents to be an unwanted intrusion. Inparticular, potential customers often express anger and irritation whentelemarketing agents call during dinner hour.

Thus, there is a need for a method and apparatus that allows the callerto designate the priority of a telephone call based on specifiedpriority criteria and the recipient to designate treatment of telephonecalls based on their specified priority criteria.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The above problems are solved according to the invention by providing amethod and apparatus for prioritizing telephone calls. The inventionallows a caller to designate the priority of his telephone call basedupon specified priority criteria. The specified priority criteria followthe telephone call through the telephone network. The priority of thecall is determined based on the specified priority criteria. Thetelephone call is connected, rerouted or terminated based upon thespecified priority criteria.

More particularly a telephone service provider's network is equippedwith an originating switch proximate to the caller. The originatingswitch is equipped with means for identifying specified prioritycriteria that the caller has assigned to his call. That specifiedpriority criteria follows the call through the telephone serviceprovider's network.

The telephone service provider's network is also equipped with aterminating switch proximate to the recipient. The terminating switch isequipped with means for identifying specified priority criteria that therecipient has assigned to incoming calls.

When the caller places a call to the recipient, the call arrives at theoriginating switch which undertakes to identify the specified prioritycriteria, if any, that the caller has assigned to the call. Theoriginating switch then connects the call to the terminating switch. Ifthe caller has assigned specified priority criteria to the call, thatspecified priority criteria follows the call through the telephoneservice provider's network from the originating switch to theterminating switch.

When the call arrives at the terminating switch, the terminating switchidentifies the specified priority criteria, if any, that the recipienthas assigned to incoming calls. If the recipient has assigned aspecified priority criteria to incoming calls, the specified prioritycriteria that the recipient has assigned to incoming calls is comparedto the specified priority criteria that the caller has assigned to thecall. If the specified priority criteria that the recipient has assignedto incoming calls satisfies the specified priority criteria that thecaller has assigned to the call, then the call is connected. If thespecified priority criteria that the recipient has assigned to incomingcalls does not satisfy the specified priority criteria that the callerhas assigned to the call, then the call is either rerouted to analternative destination or terminated.

The specified priority criteria that a caller can assign to a call andthat the recipient can assign to incoming calls include any manner ofdenoting special treatment for a call. For example, the caller couldspecify that the call is a low priority call and the recipient couldspecify that low priority calls only be put through during certain timesof the day. The specified priority criteria can be more particular. Thecaller could, for example, specify that the call relates totelemarketing or to a fund raising campaign and the recipient couldspecify that calls relating to telemarketing or fundraising not be putthrough at all or only be put through during certain times of the day.

The caller could, for example, designate that the call is of a personalnature. If the recipient, for example, is working at home and does notwant to be interrupted by calls of a personal nature, the recipientcould specify that all personal calls be directed to a answering machinedevice or a voice mail system. Similarly, if the recipient is out of hisoffice and at home on vacation or with an illness, the recipient could,for example, specify that work related calls be directed to an answeringmachine or voice mail system. Alternatively if the recipient, forexample, conducts business out of his home, and does not want businesscalls during evening hours, the recipient could specify that personalcalls be put through during evening hours, but business calls receivedduring evening hours be directed to an answering machine or voice mail.

As would be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art, theinvention can be used for prioritizing and directing of electronic datacommunication as well as telephone calls. For example, electronic mail("E-mail") and facsimile transmissions can be prioritized and directedin the same manner as described above with respect to telephone calls.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram which illustrates an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating the processing of telephone callsin accordance with the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a basic configuration of an embodiment of theinvention. A caller 10 is connected through a telephone serviceprovider's network 12 to the call recipient 14. The telephone serviceprovider's network 12 includes an originating switch 20 and aterminating switch 22 which are connected via link 24.

The caller 10 is connected via link 26 to the originating switch 20.Similarly, the terminating switch 22 is connected via link 28 to thecall recipient 14.

The originating switch 20 is connected via link 30 to an automaticnumber identification ("ANI") "trigger table" 32. An ANI trigger tablecontains a list of the telephone numbers of subscribers to variousspecial services offered by the telephone service provider. Theoriginating switch 20 is also connected via link 34 to a data base 36.

Similarly, the terminating switch 22 is connected via link 38 to an ANItrigger table 40. The terminating switch 22 is also connected via link42 to a data base 44.

When the caller 10 places a call to the call recipient 14, the callproceeds via link 26 to the originating switch 20. The caller'stelephone number, which is identified by the telephone serviceprovider's system, is transmitted with the call to the originatingswitch 20. Using the caller's telephone number, the originating switchqueries the ANI trigger table 32 as to whether the caller 10 subscribesto any of the special services offered by the telephone serviceprovider.

If the caller's telephone number does not appear on the ANI triggertable 32, the ANI trigger table 32 signals the originating switch 20that the caller 10 does not subscribe to any of the special servicesoffered by the telephone service provider. The originating switch thenconnects the call to the terminating switch 22 via link 24 and theterminating switch 22 connects the call to the call recipient 14 vialink 28.

If, however, the caller's telephone number appears on the ANI triggertable 32, the ANI trigger table 32 signals the originating switch 20that the caller 10 subscribes to at least one of the special servicesoffered by the telephone service provider. The originating switch 20then queries the data base 36 as to the particular special serviceoffered by the telephone service provider to which the callersubscribes. The database identifies the caller as a subscriber to thetelephone call prioritization system and provides the caller's specifiedpriority criteria. The originating switch 20 connects the telephone callto the terminating switch 22 via link 24. The specified prioritycriteria that the caller has assigned to the call is transmitted withthe call from the originating switch 20 to the terminating switch 22 vialink 24. The call recipient's telephone number, which is identified bythe telephone service provider's system, also is transmitted with thecall from the originating switch 20 to the terminating switch 22 vialink 24. The call and specified priority criteria arrive at theterminating switch 22.

Using the recipient's telephone number, the terminating switch queriesthe ANI trigger table 40 as to whether the call recipient 14 subscribesto any of the special services offered by the telephone serviceprovider. If the call recipient's telephone number does not appear onthe ANI trigger table 40, the ANI trigger table 40 signals theterminating switch 22 that the call recipient 14, does not subscribe toany of the special services offered by the telephone service provider.The terminating switch 22 then connects the call to the call recipient14 via link 28.

If, however, the call recipient's telephone number appears on the ANItrigger table 40, the ANI trigger table 40 signals the terminatingswitch 22 that the call recipient 14 subscribes to at least one of thespecial services offered by the telephone service provider. Theterminating switch 22 then queries the data base 44 as to the particularspecial service offered by the telephone service provider to which thecall recipient subscribes. The database identifies the call recipient asa subscriber to the telephone call prioritization system and providesthe recipient's specified priority criteria and alternative treatment ofcalls that do not fall within the recipient's specified prioritycriteria.

Based on the caller's specified priority criteria transmitted with thetelephone call and the recipient's specified priority criteria andalternative treatment information, the terminating switch 22 directs thetelephone call. If the caller's specified priority criteria satisfiesthe recipient's specified priority criteria, the call is connected. Ifthe caller's specified priority criteria does not satisfy therecipient's specified priority criteria, the call is rerouted to analternative destination or terminated.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram showing the processing of a telephone call inaccordance with the principles of the invention. The caller 10 places atelephone call and the telephone call arrives at the originating switch20 (step 100). Using the caller's telephone number, the originatingswitch queries the ANI trigger table 32 to check if the caller'stelephone number appears (step 104).

If the caller's telephone number does not appear on the ANI triggertable 32, the ANI trigger table 32 signals the originating switch 20that the caller 10 does not subscribe to any of the special servicesoffered by the telephone service provider and the originating switch 20then connects the call through the terminating switch 22 via link 24 tothe call recipient 14 via link 28 (step 106). If, however, the caller'stelephone number appears on the ANI trigger table 32, the ANI triggertable 32 signals the originating switch 20 that the caller 10 subscribesto at least one of the special services offered by the telephone serviceprovider.

The originating switch 22 then queries the data base 36 as to theparticular special service offered by the telephone service provider towhich the caller subscribes. The database identifies the caller as asubscriber to the telephone call prioritization system and provides thecaller's specified priority criteria (step 108). The originating switch20 then routes the call to the terminating switch 22 with the caller'sspecified priority criteria in the signalling path (step 110).

The call arrives at the terminating switch 22 (step 112). Using therecipient's telephone number, the terminating switch 22 queries the ANItrigger table 40 to check if the recipient's telephone number appears(step 116).

If the recipient's telephone number does not appear on the ANI triggertable 40, the ANI trigger table 40 signals the terminating switch 22that the recipient does not subscribe to any of the special servicesoffered by the telephone service provider and the terminating switch 22connects the call (step 118). If, however, the recipient's telephonenumber appears on the ANI trigger table 40, the terminating switch 22queries the data base 44 for the particular special service offered bythe telephone service provider to which the call recipient subscribes.The database identifies the call recipient as a subscriber to thetelephone call prioritization system and provides the recipient'sspecified priority criteria and desired alternative treatment of callsthat do not fall within the specified priority criteria (step 120).

Finally, based on the caller's specified priority criteria transmittedwith the telephone call and the recipient's specified priority criteriaand alternative treatment information, the terminating switch 22 directsthe telephone call (step 122). If the caller's specified prioritycriteria satisfies the recipient's specified priority criteria, the callis connected (step 124). If the caller's specified priority criteriadoes not satisfy the recipient's specified priority criteria, the callis either terminated or rerouted based on the call recipient'salternative treatment information (step 126).

The following is an example of use of the method and apparatus forprioritizing telephone calls.

A telemarketing center subscribes to the telephone call prioritizingsystem and has specified that all calls originating from its telephonenumber are "low priority" calls. At 6:30 pm, a telemarketing agent callsa potential customer from that telemarketing center. The potentialcustomer also subscribes to the telephone call prioritizing system andhas specified that it does not wish to receive low priority callsbetween the hours of 5:00 pm and 9:00 am and that incoming low prioritycalls during those hours should be connected through to his answeringmachine.

The call arrives at the originating switch that handles thetelemarketing center's telephone numbers. The originating switch, usingthe telephone number of the telemarketing center, queries the ANItrigger table. The ANI trigger table signals the originating switch thatthe telemarketing center subscribes to at least one of the specialservices offered by the telephone service provider.

The originating switch then queries the database for the special serviceoffered by the telephone service provider to which the telemarketingcenter subscribes. The database identifies the telemarketing center as asubscriber to the telephone call prioritization system and provides thetelemarketing center's specified priority criteria. The data basesignals the originating switch that all calls originating from thetelephone number of the telemarketing center are low priority. Theoriginating switch connects the call to the terminating switch withtelemarketing center's the low priority specified priority criteria inthe signalling path.

The terminating switch queries the ANI trigger table as to whether thecall recipient subscribes to any of the special services offered by thetelephone service provider. The ANI trigger table signals theterminating switch that the call recipient subscribes to a specialservice offered by the telephone service provider.

The terminating switch then queries the database as the special serviceoffered by the telephone service provider to which the call recipientsubscribes. The database identifies the call recipient as a subscriberto the telephone call prioritizing system and provides the callrecipient's specified priority criteria. The database signals theterminating switch that the call recipient does not wish to have lowpriority calls connected between the hours of 5:00 pm and 9:00 am andthat incoming low priority call received during these hours should beconnected to an answering machine. Per the call recipient's specifiedpriority criteria and alternative treatment information, the terminatingswitch connects the call to the recipient's answering machine.

It is to be understood that the above description is only of onepreferred embodiment of the invention. Numerous other arrangements maybe devised by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope ofthe invention. The invention is thus limited only as defined in theaccompanying claims.

We claim:
 1. A method of processing a telephone call, comprising thesteps of:storing a signal representing a call recipient's priority andan association between the recipient's priority and the recipient'sindividual telephone number; storing a signal representing a caller'spriority, said caller's priority having been selected by a caller; andthen assigning said previously stored caller's priority to a telephonecall received from said caller; and then directing the telephone callbased on a function of said previously stored caller's priority and saidrecipient's priority.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the assigningstep includes determining whether the caller's telephone number appearson an automatic number identification (ANI) trigger table.
 3. The methodof claim 1, wherein the assigning step includes using the caller'stelephone number to identify and retrieve said previously storedcaller's priority from a data base storing previously stored callers'priorities of a plurality of callers.
 4. The method of claim 3, whereinthe directing step includes using the call recipient's telephone numberto identify priority criteria specified by the call recipient and storedin a data base storing previously stored recipients' priority criteriaof a plurality of recipients.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein thedirecting step includes determining whether the call recipient'stelephone number appears on an automatic number identification (ANI)trigger table.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the directing stepincludes using the call recipient's telephone number to identifypriority criteria specified by the call recipient and stored in a database storing previously stored recipients' priority criteria of aplurality of recipients.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the directingstep includes comparing said previously stored caller's priority topriority criteria specified by the telephone call's recipient.
 8. Themethod of claim 7, wherein the directing step includes connecting thetelephone call from said caller to said call recipient if saidpreviously stored caller's priority satisfies said call recipient'sspecified priority criteria.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein thedirecting step includes rerouting the telephone call to a destinationother than to said call recipient's telephone number if informationabout the telephone call, including said previously stored caller'spriority, satisfies a rerouting condition of said call recipient'sspecified priority criteria.
 10. The method of claim 7, wherein thedirecting step includes terminating the telephone call if informationabout the telephone call, including said previously stored caller'spriority, satisfies a termination condition of said call recipient'sspecified priority criteria.
 11. The method of claim 7, wherein saidpreviously stored caller's priority is selected as a priority valueintermediate between a recipient's criterion that accepts all calls anda recipient's criterion that refuses all calls.
 12. The method of claim1, wherein said previously stored caller's priority is selected fromamong a palette of priority values chosen by a provider of telephoneservices.
 13. A method of processing telephone calls in a telephonenetwork, comprising the steps of:for at least two respective recipients,storing a signal representing a call recipient's priority and anassociation between the recipient's priority and a recipient'sindividual telephone number; storing a signal representing a caller'spriority, being a priority selected by a caller; and then on receiving afirst telephone call from said caller, automatically retrieving saidpreviously stored caller's priority signal and assigning said previouslystored caller's priority to said first telephone call, and directing therouting of said first telephone call based on a function of saidpreviously stored caller's priority and the stored priority associatedwith the number of the recipient of the first telephone call; and thenon receiving a second telephone call from said caller, automaticallyretrieving said previously stored caller's priority signal and assigningsaid previously stored caller's priority to said second telephone call,and directing the routing of said second telephone call based on afunction of said previously stored caller's priority and the storedpriority associated with the number of the recipient of the secondtelephone call.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the retrieving stepsinclude using the caller's telephone number to identify and retrievesaid previously stored caller's priority from a data base, the data basestoring previously stored callers' priorities of a plurality of callers.15. The method of claim 13, wherein the steps of directing said firstand second telephone calls include using the telephone numbers of therecipients of the telephone calls to identify priority criteriaspecified by the call recipients and stored in a data base, the database storing priority criteria specified by a plurality of callrecipients.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein the steps of directingsaid first and second telephone calls include comparing said previouslystored caller's priority to priority criteria specified by recipients ofsaid first and second telephone calls.
 17. The method of claim 13,wherein the steps of directing said first and second telephone callsinclude connecting said first and second telephone calls if saidpreviously stored caller's priority satisfies said first and second callrecipients' specified priority criteria.
 18. The method of claim 13,wherein said directing step includes rerouting said first and secondtelephone calls to destinations other than to the dialed telephonenumbers if information about said first telephone call, including saidpreviously stored caller's priority satisfies a rerouting condition ofsaid recipients' specified priority criteria.
 19. An apparatus forprocessing a telephone call, comprising:means for storing prioritycriteria of a caller; means for retrieving said priority criteria ofsaid caller in response to receiving a telephone call from said caller,and routing said call along with said caller's priority criteria; andmeans for receiving said call along with said caller's prioritycriteria, and routing said call based at least in part on said caller'spriority criteria.
 20. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprisingmeans for using the caller's telephone number to identify and retrievesaid stored caller's priority criteria.
 21. The apparatus of claim 19,wherein the means for retrieving uses the caller's telephone number toidentify said stored caller's priority criteria in a data base storingpriority criteria stored by a plurality of callers.
 22. The apparatus ofclaim 19, wherein routing said call compares said priority criteria ofthe caller to criteria specified by a call recipient.
 23. The apparatusof claim 19, wherein routing said call routes the call if said caller'spriority criteria satisfies criteria specified by a call recipient. 24.The apparatus of claim 19, wherein routing said call routes the call toa destination other than a call recipient.
 25. A method of processing atelephone call, comprising the steps of:receiving at an originatingswitch a telephone call from a caller and processing said call; routing,to a terminating switch from said originating switch, said call alongwith priority criteria of said caller determined during said processing;and routing the call from said terninating switch based on a comparisonof said caller's priority criteria with a recipient's priority criteria.26. The method of claim 25, wherein said priority criteria of saidcaller and said recipient's priority criteria are chosen by the callerand recipient, respectively, from a predefined set of priority values.27. The method of claim 25, wherein said priority criteria of saidcaller is selected as a value intermediate between a recipient'spriority criterion that accepts all calls and a recipient's prioritycriterion that refuses all calls.
 28. The method of claim 27, whereinrouting the call includes terminating the telephone call.
 29. The methodof claim 25, wherein routing the call includes connecting the telephonecall if said priority criteria of said caller satisfies a receiptcriterion of said recipient's piority criteria.
 30. The method of claim25, wherein routing the call includes routing the telephone call to adestination other than to the call recipient's telephone number.